In the early innings Thursday I tweeted out what I hoped would be reassuring counsel to Mets fans unhappy that we weren’t going to sweep four from the Rockies without a fair amount of work:
Noah’s gonna be great, but he’s awfully young and still has some lumps to take. Even Norse gods need to learn stuff. #Mets
— Jason Fry (@jasoncfry) August 13, 2015
As I noted, Noah Syndergaard is 22 — and he’s a young 22 at that. By comparison, Matt Harvey is 26, while Jacob deGrom is 27. Whether you’re a flame-throwing pitcher or an acquisitions clerk, there’s a big difference between 22 and 26. You’re going to become a substantially different person just by having increased your days spent on Earth by nearly 20%, and you’re also going to learn critical lessons about your chosen profession.
Flame-throwing pitchers, like the rest of us, have to learn about getting along with colleagues and bosses. They also have to learn more specialized things. Their workplaces may have odd and unwritten codes of conduct governing lunch, for instance. That’s a relatively easy lesson; a harder one is learning that not even ungodly stuff will permit you to pitch in predictable patterns. Syndergaaard led with his fastball to excess against Tampa Bay and got smacked around; the same thing happened in the first against Colorado — he threw 10 of 12 fastballs and watched two of them disappear over the fence.
All part of the learning process. And hence my tweet.
There were things I didn’t expect, though. Like Syndergaard taking the lesson to heart in a matter of innings instead of days, for once. He gave up a single to Daniel Descalso to open the second, but then erased Descalso on a double play. Kyle Parker singled, but Syndergaard blew away opposing pitcher Eddie Butler — and didn’t allow another hit until his work was done after seven. He fed the Rockies curves and change-ups early, getting them off-balance, then erased them with that annihilating fastball.
The lesson: It’s nice to have the Hammer of Thor at your disposal, but it’s better to have a whole divine toolkit to choose from. Syndergaard learned today that you can write some pretty satisfying myths using the Screwdriver and Socket Wrench of Thor as well.
Meanwhile, the Mets were hitting the luckless Mr. Butler early and often. A trio of doubles in the first (Daniel Murphy, Juan Uribe, Kelly Johnson) made the Rockies’ lead disappear, two more (Yoenis Cespedes and Johnson again) followed in the third, and Curtis Granderson‘s fourth-inning homer signaled that the rout was on and the sweep was a reality.
A little more than a month ago (which is a lifetime in this topsy-turvy season), I lamented what the Mets could be if only they were capable of scoring four runs a game. Twelve a game? That will do.
Yes, that will do very nicely.
The kid is showing signs of his head catching up with his arm, and when that transformation is complete, I think he’s going to be the best of the whole bunch.
I just gotta go back to the whole lunch in the trash thing. Yeah, it may be bad form to eat lunch and be in the clubhouse during a scrimmage, but the question remains. If Thor wasn’t supposed to be in the clubhouse, what the heck were Wright and Parnell doing there? I think they were really mad because he cut in line
Policing up the rookie.
The sweep of the Rockies gave the Mets a 273-273 record at Citi Field since it opened in 2009. What’s your record there, Greg?
Good one, Bunker.
Those two fake tough guys have spent more time in the clubhouse the past two years than any ballfield.
David Wright was hit in the head by a nearly 100mph hr fastball and came back to play the next year showing no sign of fear. He would still get brushed back all the time and jump right back in the box. “Fake tough guy”?
Relax, brother.
And it was Taco Tuesday! No rook gets first dibs on Taco Tuesday!
Can’t wait until Wright, one of the greatest Mets of all time, comes back.
Absolutely!
On September 12, 2007, in game 145, the Mets defeated the Braves to increase their division lead to 7 games.
On September 28, 2007, in game 160, the Mets lost to the Marlins to fall 1 game behind the Phillies.
That’s context to appreciate the last 2 weeks of Mets baseball.
On July 30, 2015, in game 102, the Mets lost to the Padres to fall 3 games behind the Nationals.
On August 13, 2015, in game 115, the Mets defeated the Rockies to increase their division lead to 4 games, which became a 4.5-game lead with the Nationals loss to the Giants.
We can empathize with the dismay of Nationals fans. The Mets just flipped the standings by 7.5 games faster and in fewer games than the infamous 8-game swing happened in the collapse of 2007.
Of course, the collapse of 2007 happened at the end of the season. The 2007 Mets had 2 games to recover from their slide and fell short. The Nationals have 48 games, including 6 games with the Mets, to recover from their slide.
There are roughly 7 weeks of games remaining in the regular season and it only takes 2 weeks to turn around a pennant race.
There are many pitchers far more seasoned than Mr. Thor who would have difficulty adjusting mid-game to an early three-run deficit. Kudos to the kid. (And his catcher.) And yeah, without that four-run-a-game thing, this would have been just another gutsy loss. Good times…
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